Nominations for the 94th Academy Awards are announced on Tuesday, February 8. But before Tinseltown tells you which titles and performances were the best of 2021, the critics at Wylie Writes wanted to pitch in their two cents.
Much like an expert poker player, writer/director Paul Schrader underplays The Card Counter. Instead of a flashier approach that boasts with style, Schrader captures the subdued focus and routine of a gambling sub-culture and its players. One of those players being William Tell (Oscar Isaac), a former serviceman who invests in high-rolling card games to keep himself distracted. It’s an efficient, time-consuming past-time that prevents William from possibly falling back into bad habits.